Last week the Nationwide Series was on a road course, and they had to put on their blue suede shoes in the middle of the pouring rain.  No they weren't walking in Memphis, they were racing on rain tires in Montreal.  Will that happen this week?  I sure hope not, although I'm not a huge fan of road course racing, so a little rain may make things fun to watch.  What will we see this week?  Will there be a first-time winner?  Will a road course ringer win for the first time since Bill Weber said something intelligent?  Will the tank run dry for half the field again like last week in neighboring PA?  Pit road, right turns, and much more are sure to throw everyone a few extra curves this weekend...all puns intended.

Here's a quick quiz...what makes Watkins Glen different from any other track NASCAR races on?  Anybody know?  It's that backwards pit road!  Yup, no other track has an entrance to pit road on the right.  So everything is reversed, the gas is on the right side of the car, the left side tires go on first when changing all 4, and when the crew jumps over the wall, they're not running straight into the window net.  This is one thing I've always found interesting about NASCAR's NY road course.  It can be tricky, and I'm sure there will be some pit road goofs this Sunday.

Next on the agends is the subject of the road course ringers. Native Canadian Ron Fellows won the boat Nationwide race in Montreal last week for his 2nd win in NASCAR's #2 series.  He has a win in Nationwide competition at Watkins Glen.  Road course ringers used to win all the time in NASCAR.  Dan Gurney was the most successful with 5 victories...uhh, the...only 5 NASCAR races he ever won.  BUT, it's been 35 years since a ringer won a race!  The last driver to do it was Mark Donahue in 1973 driving for Roger Penske at Riverside.  This week's ringers are Ron Fellows, Marcos Ambrose, Brian Simo, Boris Said, Max Papis, and P.J. Jones.  You could also throw Patrick Carpentier into that mix as well, as he's a former open wheeler in what was Champ Car Racing, which was mostly road courses.  His IRL counterpart Sam Hornish is NOT a ringer however.  In fact he's a lousy road racer.  Every driver has a weakness, and for Sam it's turning right.

What about first-time winners?  There's a bunch of them.  In addition to the ringers, you've got full-time drivers like Carpentier, Allmendinger, and the Sonoma surprise David Gilliland.  There's also Ragan, Menard, Blaney, Sorenson, Kvapil, Riggs, and Reutimann.  I won't bother to count McDowell, who has about as much of a chance to win as the Pirates have to making the playoffs this year.  Will any of these drivers steal a victory?  It's been 8 years since a driver last captured their first Cup Series win on a road course.  That was Steve Park at The Glen back in 2000.  My pick if any of these drivers will seize the day is David Ragan.

What about all the Chase contenders who have never won on a road course in the Cup Series?  For those keeping score, that's Johnson, Earnhardt Jr, Edwards, Burton, Kenseth, Vickers, Biffle, Kahne, Bowyer, Newman, and Hamlin.  Which of these guys, if any, can pull off a win on a road course?  Well if you'd give me these drivers and ask me to pick one on the spot, I'd pick Denny Hamlin.  He's been close, but that only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.  Some of these guys need to step it up also, so maybe it's better for a few of these guys to try to survive Watkins Glen rather than go bonzai for a win.  If you try to hard and wind up 35th instead of 5th, it could be the final blow.  So, if you're looking for one of these guys to steal the show...Dennychu, I choose you!

Last but not least are some former road course winners, such as Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Juan Montoya, Robby Gordon...hmm, I think that's all.  Oh wait, there's those 2 other guys who own NASCAR's road courses, 2 guys by the name of umm...Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon?  I think that's their names.  Yeah, whether you like Stewart and Jeff Gordon or not, they're your best picks.  Between them they've amassed 15 victories, 9 for Gordon and 6 for Stewart respectively.  Surprisingly though, neither driver has gone to victory lane so far in 2008.  For Gordon, it's 2 weeks shy of the longest he's gone winless to start a season.  For Stewart, his longest winless streak to start a season happens to be his rookie year of 1999 when he won his first career Cup race in what's now the Chase cut-off at Richmond.  I look for one of these 2 guys to break out of their slump this weekend.

My pick: The 44 car...and no I'm not talking about David Reutimann.  I'm calling a toss-up between Tony Stewart in the #20 and Jeff Gordon in the #24.  I don't know how you could pick one of these drivers over the other.  They're NASCAR's road course kings, and they could easily finish 1-2 at Watkins Glen on Sunday.  Win #16 between these 2 in road racing is coming, and it could very well be this weekend.

Dark Horse: Ron Fellows...He won last week, and he's won at Watkins Glen before in (what was then) the Busch Series.  It's a matter of time before a road course ringer wins again in Cup Series competition, and Fellows will be one to look out for.  Keep your eye on that #01 car, as he could spoil the victory party for all the regulars.

Of course everything can be turned upside down, and it probably will be.  This has been your Q Cup Preview...NOW LET'S GO RACING!